All Articles For Church and State

Recent headlines have carried news of allegations that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) tar­geted certain conservative groups and held up or denied their applications for tax-exempt status. What are the implications if the tax-collecting agency of our nation would target our churches or schools? How do recent changes in the law make it more likely that our churches and schools will face increased scrutiny in the future? In order to understand these questions, it is important to understand how the current tax laws work in relation to non-profit entities. The general assumption is that any entity is subject to taxation....

The First Amendment to the United States Constitution provides that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof….” We all recognize this language as the legal basis for the freedom of religion we enjoy in the United States. But does this protection extend to corporations? At first blush we might quickly answer “no,” since corporations are not like individual believers in that they do not worship God.

Previous article in this series: May 15, 2012, p. 376.   In two previous articles under this rubric, we ex­amined some issues in employment law relating to discrimination claims as they protect individuals from religious discrimination and as our schools and churches can be affected by claims of discrimination. We also looked at some recent United States Supreme Court rulings that apply to religious organizations that act as employers. In this issue, we will look at the fac­tors that impact such cases and the measures that can be taken to preserve religious freedom in this area. We have looked at...

Previous article in this series: February 15, 2012, p. 233. In our last article under this rubric, we looked at some of the laws relating to employment discrimi­nation, as well as some notable exceptions for reli­gious organizations. It was noted that the United States Supreme Court was preparing to hand down a decision pertaining to the ministerial exception. The ministerial exception, as you may recall, is the legal principle based upon the First Amendment to the United States Con­stitution, which keeps the government from interfering with the internal affairs of the church, especially in matters of doctrinal instruction. The Court...

In the United States, the law protects individuals from being discriminated against in employment based on religion. At the same time, believers enjoy a great deal of freedom in operating and governing churches and schools free from government interference. These institutions are subject to many of the laws of the land regarding employment, including certain laws prohibiting discrimination. Often there is confusion as to whether or how a law applies to a church or school. Sometimes believers mistakenly believe that a church or school is subject to laws that it is not, or that it is exempt from laws that...

Mr. Lanting, a member of South Holland Protestant Reformed Church, is a practicing attorney. It’s time parents were free to choose the schools that their children attend. This approach will create the competitive climate that stimulates excellence in our private and parochial schools as well.  President Bush, April, 1991  The Bush Administration is sparing no expense to embrace a far-reaching definition of choice – including aid to parochial schools, if that will pass the hurdle of the 1st Amendment. Education Secretary Lamar Alexander has called government support of parochial school students “as American as apple pie.” Alexander hopes eventually to...

Mr. Lanting, a member of the South Holland Protestant Reformed Church, is a practicing attorney. The wall of separation between church and state is a metaphor based on bad history, a metaphor which has proved useless as a guide to judging. It should be frankly and explicitly abandoned.—Chief Justice William Rehnquist The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to announce its decision shortly in the public school graduation prayer case of Lee v. Weisman. This pending case gained nationwide attention after the Court recently intimated that it may use the Weisman decision to forge significant changes in church-state law. Constitutional scholars,...

Mr. Lanting, a member of South Holland Protestant Reformed Church, is a practicing attorney. Inter-religious Coalition Promotes a Religious Freedom Restoration Act In an unusual showing of solidarity, a large and diverse group of liberal and conservative religious groups have formed a rare coalition to support and sponsor a new federal statute calculated to enhance religious freedom in this country. Angered by the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision last year in the notorious case of Employment Division v. Smith, the coalition has convinced 104 U.S. Representatives to co-sponsor a new bill in Congress dubbed the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (‘RFRA”). The...

Mr. Lanting, a member of South Holland Protestant Reformed Church, is a practicing attorney. Public Funds and Private Education Ever since the Bush Administration unveiled its “America 2000” program in the spring of 1991, the national debate over “school choice” has been escalating rapidly. In fact, many are predicting that school choice will soon eclipse abortion as the most controversial political, social, and church/state issue of this decade. Engendered by growing frustration with the nation’s notoriously inept public school monopoly,-school choice was originally conceived to foster healthy competition between public schools by eliminating residency requirements and permitting parents to choose...

Mr. VanEngen, a member of the Protestant Reformed Church of Hull, Iowa, is a practicing attorney. Several past articles under this Church and State rubric have addressed the subject of homosexuality and the trend in the law to protect the practice of the sin of homosexuality. This author’s home state of Iowa recently made national news when the Iowa Supreme Court ruled that homosexual “couples” could not be denied marriage licenses.¹ Believers would do well to pay close attention to the progression of the law in this regard. The trends that are being established today may very well have serious...